Digital images have become commonplace in interactive media such as web pages on the World Wide Web. In many systems the image is captured by a digital camera and stored as an image file, which an online user can later view. Digital images can also be captured by a digital camera and stored in a digital picture database using the memory mechanisms (e.g., hard drive, CD RW, diskette, etc.) of a personal computer (PC). Whether the user's computer operates in a stand-alone mode, or as a remote terminal, he/she can retrieve database pictures for viewing and printing by an attached printer.
The number of digital pictures, and hence the size of digital picture databases continues to grow, as the costs of digital cameras and memory continue to drop. It is becoming more common for a user to have stored in a digital picture database, many more pictures (even using “thumbnails”) than can be displayed on one or a few display screens. Finding particular pictures of interest in a large picture database can be challenging using methods typically available, for example, in the Windows® and Macintosh® operating systems. Users must typically open directories, and several folders and files, often painstakingly perusing each of a large number of digital images in an effort to find those of interest. Further, there is often no efficient way to retrieve groups of pictures not stored in the same files or folders, which the user may nonetheless, desire to retrieve and display in the same group.
What is therefore sorely lacking in the prior art, is a graphical user interface which users can use to navigate and retrieve picture database images, in an efficient, logical and user-friendly manner.